Elite Explorers - Easy question :)
- Thread starter Ben Ryder
- Start date
Depends on ship mass, so the lighter ship you use the less fuel per Ly you use (actually it is just fsd class and max range with given fsd class that matter). The most efficient one is stripped down hauler IIRC.
Then there is current jump distance to max jump range (which also depends on current fuel level) relation dependency, which is exponential IIRC.
So you cannot just say "this ship use x tonnes to travel 1ly", it depends on too many variables which will be different every jump. But you probably can calculate it for given ship with given loadout and fuel amount for a given jump from system x to system y.
Then there is current jump distance to max jump range (which also depends on current fuel level) relation dependency, which is exponential IIRC.
So you cannot just say "this ship use x tonnes to travel 1ly", it depends on too many variables which will be different every jump. But you probably can calculate it for given ship with given loadout and fuel amount for a given jump from system x to system y.
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As mentioned in the posts above, I don't think anyone has made much research into the specifics for each ship, due to the many variables. But you'll get more mileage out of each ton of fuel if you travel in Economic mode (selectable in the galaxy map) as opposed to Fastest mode due to Economic mode choosing shorter jumps to conserve fuel.
Well, its complicated. *takes spoon*
Actually, its not that bad:
(Ship Weight) factored with (Size/Class FS Drive) using (percent of total jump distance capability)
So for the most efficient jump:
(Lightest ship weight) with (biggest jump drive) using (small fraction of available jump - ie: only jumping 3 LY when you are capable of 30)
that gets you several light years per tonne of fuel.
Worst jumping scenario:
(heavy ship) with (small jump drive) using (maximum jump range)
will take several tonnes of fuel for one light year.
Changing any of the factors will affect fuel efficiency. Asps and DBs have a large jump drive for their weight, so they get more range. Orcas and Clippers have small drives for the weight, so they only get mediocre ranges/fuel efficiency. For distance route planning, using the Efficient Route setting uses half of your ship's maximum jump range or less. This keeps fuel use very low, and you can extend your range between refueling by a factor of five or more. Twice as many jumps costs less than half as much fuel, for the same total distance covered. Always jumping maximum distance (the fastest route) means you are burning much more fuel than necessary.
My Exploration Asp gets 9 LY per tonne (on a guess) for short hops, maybe 4 or 5 on long hops. My Combat Python gets maybe 3 LY per tonne at best. Both ships have a 32 tonne fuel tank, but have very different total ranges.
Actually, its not that bad:
(Ship Weight) factored with (Size/Class FS Drive) using (percent of total jump distance capability)
So for the most efficient jump:
(Lightest ship weight) with (biggest jump drive) using (small fraction of available jump - ie: only jumping 3 LY when you are capable of 30)
that gets you several light years per tonne of fuel.
Worst jumping scenario:
(heavy ship) with (small jump drive) using (maximum jump range)
will take several tonnes of fuel for one light year.
Changing any of the factors will affect fuel efficiency. Asps and DBs have a large jump drive for their weight, so they get more range. Orcas and Clippers have small drives for the weight, so they only get mediocre ranges/fuel efficiency. For distance route planning, using the Efficient Route setting uses half of your ship's maximum jump range or less. This keeps fuel use very low, and you can extend your range between refueling by a factor of five or more. Twice as many jumps costs less than half as much fuel, for the same total distance covered. Always jumping maximum distance (the fastest route) means you are burning much more fuel than necessary.
My Exploration Asp gets 9 LY per tonne (on a guess) for short hops, maybe 4 or 5 on long hops. My Combat Python gets maybe 3 LY per tonne at best. Both ships have a 32 tonne fuel tank, but have very different total ranges.
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If you can keep a cargo rack in your outfitting, then you can use the slider in the navigation tab to reduce the range used for plotting routes.
So I could limit my Asp's range to 28ly instead of 33ly more jumps, butless fuel in fastest routing.
The economic route at my current location takes ages (typical jump is 1 to 2 ly) also takes ages to plot.
So I could limit my Asp's range to 28ly instead of 33ly more jumps, butless fuel in fastest routing.
The economic route at my current location takes ages (typical jump is 1 to 2 ly) also takes ages to plot.
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My Asp is weaponised with A FSD, and jumps 27 LY for 5 tonnes. Could go further if I had less mass.
So ~6 LY/ton optimised, less if multispec.
Edit : of course, efficiency goes up for smaller jumps, so I can go at least 10 times further on a tank if in economic mode, in areas of reasonable star density. Near Sag A, I visited 100 systems in economic mode without using even a quarter of my tank.
So ~6 LY/ton optimised, less if multispec.
Edit : of course, efficiency goes up for smaller jumps, so I can go at least 10 times further on a tank if in economic mode, in areas of reasonable star density. Near Sag A, I visited 100 systems in economic mode without using even a quarter of my tank.
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OP: Go buy your own wooden spoon for asking a question where you should have realised the correct answer was 'it depends'. Some very good responses, above.
Personally, since I explore and thus have a fuel scoop, the question is almost irrelevant. The biggest jump I can manage is 'a few seconds of scooping' which is much more meaningful to me than 7.8 tonnes would be.
Personally, since I explore and thus have a fuel scoop, the question is almost irrelevant. The biggest jump I can manage is 'a few seconds of scooping' which is much more meaningful to me than 7.8 tonnes would be.
The formula for fuel usage from https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?p=643461#post643461 is
Fuel Cost = Coefficient * (Distance * (Mass / Optimised Mass))^Power
where:
Distance = jump distance
Mass = current mass of ship including cargo & fuel
Coefficient, Optimised Mass and Power are variables that change with the FSD fitted (http://www.edshipyard.com/ lists them)
Fuel Cost = Coefficient * (Distance * (Mass / Optimised Mass))^Power
where:
Distance = jump distance
Mass = current mass of ship including cargo & fuel
Coefficient, Optimised Mass and Power are variables that change with the FSD fitted (http://www.edshipyard.com/ lists them)
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